Chromosome 9p21 and Coronary Artery Disease

Genomewide association studies have implicated a region on chromosome 9p21 in coronary artery disease. This association is probably driven by two genes that mediate the proliferation of aortic smooth-muscle cells. Genomewide association studies have implicated a region on chromosome 9p21 in coronary artery disease. This association is probably driven by two genes that mediate the proliferation of aortic smooth-muscle cells. Cardiovascular medicine is increasingly focused on understanding the molecular basis of disease in an ongoing search for new markers of risk and potential therapeutic targets. A recent study by Visel and colleagues 1 is a step toward these goals in that it uncovers a mechanistic link between a common, previously implicated haplotype on chromosome 9p21 and coronary artery disease. Although conventional risk factors are important, both rare and common genetic variants account for more than 50% of susceptibility to coronary artery disease. Technical advances facilitating genomewide association studies, in which the human genome is scanned at high resolution for genetic variants . . .